Page 75 of Freeing Lark

She hooked her arms beneath his shoulders and dragged him farther up the muddy bank, inch by agonizing inch. His soaked clothes seemed to weigh twice as much as they should, and every time his body shifted, a fresh wave of panic went through her.

“Come on,” she panted. “Just a little farther.”

Finally, she managed to get him beneath the cover of several large trees. Lark looked around. Forest. Nothing but thick forest. Beyond the trees, the Blue Ridge Mountains rose in the distance, their familiar ridges barely visible through the sheets of rain.

They were on the wrong side of the river. The side where there were no houses. No roads. No businesses. No people. Just miles of wilderness.

Normally, that would have terrified her. Right now, she decided it might be exactly what they needed. If the men were looking for them, the thick forest would make finding them difficult.

But first... the blood. Lark dropped to her knees. “I need to stop this.”

She pulled off her soaked shirt, leaving herself in the sports tank she’d worn beneath it. The rain was cold against her skin, but she barely noticed.

She twisted the shirt in her hands and tried tearing it. Nothing. “Come on.” She tried again. Still nothing. She remembered something she’d once seen online and grabbed a section with her teeth. She pulled and gnawed. The fabric tore. Lark stared at it. “Well, I’ll be damned.”

She ripped the rest into strips. Then she pressed several layers against Cormac’s wound. He didn’t move. She pushed harder. Blood soaked through the fabric.

“Please work.” She kept pressure on the wound until the bleeding finally slowed. Not stopped. But slowed to a trickle. Good enough. For now. Especially since she was fairly certain the bullet was still inside, since there was no exit wound. Her stomach lurched. She’d heard horror stories about how bullets could travel through the body, creating havoc and great damage. She hoped that wasn’t what happened here.

She wrapped more strips around his torso, tying them as tightly as she dared. Her fingers shook as she finished. “There.” She sat back on her heels. “That’ll have to do.”

She looked at him. Cormac was still unconscious. Lark swallowed hard. “No more dying.”

She patted his pockets. If they were going to survive out here, she needed to know what they’d been given to work with. His cargo pants had several pockets. And apparently, Cormac had been prepared for trouble. “Okay...”

She pulled out a folding knife. Lark held it up. “Useful. Wish I’d known he had this when I was tearing up my shirt with my teeth,” she mused.

Another pocket produced a compact flashlight. A waterproof lighter. A small first-aid packet. A multitool. Two energy bars. A small bottle of water. A length of paracord. And, tucked into another pocket, a waterproof phone case containing his phone. His password protected phone. Of course, it wouldn’t be that easy. “Murphy’s Law.”

She’d have to wait until he woke up to deal with that.

Lark stared at the collection. “Do you always carry an entire survival store in your pants?” Apparently, he did.

She tucked everything safely back into his pockets. Then she heard him groan. Lark froze. Cormac’s face tightened. His eyes opened.

“Oh, thank God.” She leaned over him. “Don’t move.”

His eyes focused slowly. “Lark?”

“I’m here.”

“What happened?”

“You got shot.” He blinked. “Then you fell into the river.”

Another blink. “That explains the water.”

Lark stared at him. “You do realize it’s raining buckets as well.”

“Right.”

“You are impossible.”

He tried to sit up then stopped. “Wait. Did you jump in after me?”

She hesitated.

“Technically?”